With diesel trucks so capable in stock form, sled pulling is really starting to take off. For those not familiar with sled pulling, competitors hook their vehicles onto sleds and pull them down a dirt track. Sounds easy, huh? But there's a catch-the sleds are specially weighted so the resistance increases the farther they're pulled. The sleds eventually get so hard to pull that they can bring any truck to a halt as it either runs out of power or traction. Sled pulling is brutal on equipment and can completely shred transmissions, axles, engines, drivelines, and so on. But pullers don't mind sacrificing their trucks because they love the challenge and the excitement of the crowd.
We stopped in at PDI in St. George, Utah, on our way to May Madness in Las Vegas to see what it takes to prepare a truck for sled pulling. And luck was on our side, because just after we arrived, Clint Cannon from ATS rolled in with his Duramax pulling truck. Armed with a camera and a notebook, we took advantage of PDI's Jerad Whittwer and Cannon's pulling knowledge and picked their brains for some tips and tricks.